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Wasta, the informal network context omnipresent in the Middle East, is widespread in human resource management (HRM) practices. Yet, its influence on the behaviour of HR managers has not been explored. Utilizing relational gatekeeping theory and the informal network perspective in conjunction with in-depth expert interviews with HR managers, we seek to explore whether and how informal networks (wasta) influence and shape their role in an Arab Middle Eastern context. Our findings indicate that the level of wasta penetration in organizations is reliant on the relational gatekeeping behaviours of HR managers. Furthermore, we show how HR managers compensate for structural deficiencies by leveraging their wasta-derived power to amplify their voices. Nevertheless, the findings also emphasize the significance of power sharing in reducing the expansion of culturally derived power associated with wasta, thereby limiting power dynamics and authority to that derived from the formal organizational hierarchy. These insights advance knowledge on gatekeeping behaviour in the Arab Middle Eastern context and contribute new knowledge regarding the operational modes of informal networks within organizations. Our findings underscore the pivotal role that HR managers play in shaping the organizational culture. From a practical perspective, we offer actionable solutions, such as power sharing through committee work, to enhance the effectiveness of the HR function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to understand the main factors that contribute to the failure of implementing New Public Management (NPM) plans, as well as to investigate the potential link between informal networks, namely wasta, and this failure in organizations across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA region), with Jordanian public organizations taken as an illustrative case. A qualitative approach was applied, and a total of 24 semi‐structured interviews were conducted with HR officials in Jordanian public organizations, different state‐owned enterprises (SOEs), ministries, and government agencies (GAs). The results show that wasta contributes to the failure of NPM implementation in Jordanian public organizations, indicating that public employees contribute directly to the failure of NPM strategies in Jordanian public organizations for many reasons on top of which their resistance to these reform plans. Our findings also suggest that the implementation of NPM strategies failed to diminish the use of wasta in HRM practices even though wasta was an important reason to implement NPM. This study adds knowledge to the limited informal networks literature, by exploring the interplay between informal networks on one side, and the NPM literature on the other side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this commentary we reflect on Shaalan, Eid, and Tourky's (2022) article in which they investigated the Chinese concept and practice of guanxi in the Middle East,1 a region in which wasta represents the common way of informal networking.2 While we encourage and welcome research into informal networks, we have serious concerns about the conceptual and methodological approaches taken by Shaalan et al. (2022) in investigating informal networks in the Middle East and explain herein why we do not believe guanxi should have been used in place of wasta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The practice of wasta dominates all aspects of Arabs' lives; it is a parallel inegalitarian system that categorizes people according to their connections. One of the epicenters of wasta is human resources management (HRM). This article studies the concept of wasta in the Arab world by examining its use in HRM according to gender, in the case of the Jordanian public sector. Results obtained from 27 semi‐structured interviews of HR managers indicate that though wasta is an important feature of HRM in general, there is a notable discrepancy between male and female employees, with the former displaying higher tendencies for using wasta than the latter. An explanation for this finding is the prevalent masculine nature of Jordanian society, which entails social caveats related to the traditional role of women. Professional determinants, such as gendered job segregation and variance in qualifications, also affect men's and women's access to wasta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]